Louisa May Alcott Summer Reading Challenge Week 4

March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women by Kate Bolick

Four contemporary writers reflect on how Little Women shaped their lives and what it means to them.

Kate Bolick, initially a Jo, grew to appreciate Meg more upon an adult reread of the book. Like Meg, Kate wanted fine things and to please others. She relates the story of a sleazy man she dated and a party at which he shamed her for dressing up in a fancy, designer gown. She understood the same lesson Meg learned in the chapter "Meg Goes to Vanity Fair." Like Meg, Kate learned to accept her own individuality and not someone else's idea of what she should be.

At first I really liked Kate and wished she could have been my babysitter. I had fancy, frilly "Laura Ingalls" and "Anne of Green Gables" dresses. I relate very strongly to Jo, and even more to Louisa. I wish I had known Kate and in spite of her being older, I could have taught her to appreciate her own individuality much sooner and to embrace her inner Jo!

Jenny Zhang writes about Jo. Growing up Jenny dreamed of being a writer like Jo, however, Jo was not her favorite character. Jenny's identity is shaped by her Chinese heritage and the cultural identity she left behind in Shanghai as a precocious (Amy) four-year-old. Finally becoming a writer, Jenny Zhnag felt unfulfilled somehow because she is unmarried. She identified with Jo in the third act of Little Women. Again, I feel bad for her because once again, this woman does not have a supportive mother. In this case, it's complicated by cultural beliefs.

In "A Dear and Nothing Else," Carmen Maria Machado compares the character of Beth to the real life Lizzie Alcott and talks about her own health battles and teenage obsession with sick lit. (I read all those Lurlene McDaniel books in the 90s too.) The parts about Lizzie are really interesting. She was much more human than Beth who is so angelic and perfectly good all the time. Scholar Nina Auerbach claims Beth HAS to die because she doesn't have ambition or dreams beyond the happy home. She'll always be a child to her family. Carmen writes of her own health battles and how they've made her stronger as an adult, yet her mother defines Carmen by her childhood ailments.

I feel this was the strongest essay in the book. I liked learning more about Lizzie (thank you Susan Bailey) and could relate to some of Carmen's own anxieties.

Finally, Jane Smiley looks at Amy from a parent's perspective. Instead of seeing Amy as an annoying, selfish, brat, Jane Smiley sees Amy as the quintessential youngest child having to learn by doing and observing to make her way into the world.

Whew. Can we say helicopter parent? Jane Smiley does not seem to have any regard for Marmee March's unique way of raising her daughters. This modern mother has interfered in her kids' lives, hovered, and would have raised Amy very differently. She sympathizes with Amy in regards to the pickled limes and would have taken the teacher to task for not dealing with the jealous girl and for punishing Amy. (Dear helicopter parent: Amy broke the rules and every time a kid complains to Mommy about bullying and Mommy complains to the school, it makes bullying SO SO much worse). This modern mother would have intervened in Amy and Jo's fights and focused on AMY after Amy falls through the ice and held off lecturing Jo, hovering to monitor for signs of PTSD. Jane Smiley doesn't see to take into account the unorthodox beliefs of the Alcotts/Marches and how typical 19th-century parenting usually meant beating a child for doing something wrong. Marmee offers wise counsel instead which is why we love her.

Jane Smiley goes through Amy's whole character growth to the end of the novel. I can see how she came to form her opinions of Amy but I think she's missing the mark here. Amy is an exaggerated version of Louisa's own sister, the baby of the family, petted spoiled and sometimes made fun of for her art. However, Smiley doesn't consider the fact that Amy can do whatever she wants because of the sacrifices of her older sisters, mainly Jo. Yes Jo is writing trashy stories to support the family so who do you think pays for Amy's art lessons? It was always Louisa who supported May financially. I applaud Jo for NOT being gracious while paying calls. She doesn't like false social interactions and is always true to herself. While I bet this essay will make some people see Amy in a new light, I still don't like her very much.

This collection of essays isn't bad but it's not what I'd call literary criticism or literary analysis. The writers had to rerread the novel as adults for the first time to even write the essays in the first place. The younger writers like to make themselves sound modern and edgy with some very modern language.